| JEDDAH, 14 April 2006 — The Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) is in the process of implementing the tourist-visa system through a limited number of tourist companies in the Kingdom in a bid to promote the country's tourism industry. According to informed sources, the SCT has authorized seven tourism companies in the Kingdom to bring in foreign tourists, who will be allowed to visit all places in the Kingdom except Makkah and Madinah. They said the two holy cities were excluded in order to avoid any possible conflicts between tourist visas and Haj and Umrah visas for pilgrims. The disclosure came following the opening by Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the SCT, a three-day expo to showcase various aspects of international travel market at Jeddah's International Exhibition Center on Wednesday. The exhibition ends today. "The SCT has prepared a number of programs to be marketed soon locally and internationally," Sultan told reporters. He said the SCT has undertaken various tourism projects in the Kingdom as part of its efforts to expand the country's tourism infrastructure facilities. The opening function was attended by nearly 2,000 experts in the industry representing 150 companies in 20 countries, including Spain, France, Britain, South Africa, Australia, Singapore Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and India. "The expo is being held in line with the Supreme Commission for Tourism's preparation to launch a strategic plan for the promotion of tourism conferences and expos in the Kingdom with the cooperation of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry", Prince Saud Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman of Tradex, which is organizing the event said. Stressing the significance of "conference tourism" Prince Saud said: "Various activities such as commercial, industrial and technological exhibitions and conferences apart from academic forums will be held in the period ahead in various places in the Kingdom. The SCT intends to make 'conference tourism' a boost for the national economy with more employment opportunities for Saudis". The aim of holding the event in Jeddah is to familiarize the Kingdom's tourism industry to the outside world and discover areas of cooperation with foreign tourism companies as well as open channels of communication between the tourism industry in the Kingdom and its counterparts abroad. The expo is also going to be an annual event in Jeddah. | 
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